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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE authorities must work extra hard to ensure the country’s football stadiums are compliant with Caf and Fifa requirements after the continental football body’s president Ahmad Ahmad told journalists that there was no going back in ensuring football is played in standard venues.

He said even the safety of fans is being taken seriously, hence they can’t compromise by lowering standards.

Ahmad was addressing over 200 journalists from various media houses from the African continent, including Chronicle Sport, in a teleconference via the Zoom application on Tuesday evening.

There had been calls from some quarters in the country for Caf to waiver some of its requirements like standard dressing rooms and installation of bucket seats since they do not have any effect on the quality of the match.

A standard dressing room, according to Fifa, must be 240-square metres, but those at Barboufields Stadium are a mere 35-square metres and for Emagumeni to meet these standards, some structural work is needed, which might require demolishing the whole VIP grandstand.

Deputy Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Tino Machakaire recently indicated that Barbourfields Stadium is of sentimental value to be demolished.

This might only see the National Sports Stadium getting the green light to play host to senior Warriors’ matches, while Barbourfields Stadium only hosts junior representative national sides and international club matches.

“In fact, we might have to put in place stricter rules than before because just as you can see, we have health barriers as we move towards imposing  more health and safety protocols. There is need for the public (fans), players and other officials to be safe. I believe that it’s in the interest of everyone to preserve the health and safety of everybody,” said Ahmad.